From frequent updates on social media to publishing dos and don’ts for people in cyclone-prone coastal districts of the State, the Tamil Nadu State Disaster Management Authority (TNSDMA) kept track of Cyclone Gaja, all through its journey, keeping the general public informed and facilitating precautionary measures.

Almost everyday since the deep depression turned into a cyclonic storm, the Commissioner of Revenue Administration K. Satyagopal and Disaster Management Commissioner Rajendra Ratnoo scheduled press meets at the State Emergency Operations Centre (SEOC) and gave out updates from the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD).

Besides information from the IMD, the public was informed about the coordination of various government agencies at the district-level.

Revenue Minister R.B. Udhayakumar was at the press meets frequently to monitor the developments.

@tnsdma — the twitter handle of the Tamil Nadu State Disaster Management Authority (TNSDMA) — was active with multiple updates in a day.

As of Thursday, before the landfall, a total of 4,025 families were evacuated and a total of 94 relief centres are operating in Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, Ramanathapuram, Thanjavur and Tiruvarur districts.

A total of 14,455 persons, including 5,770 women and 2,231 children were evacuated to safety in these districts.

On Thursday, the pilot phase of the Early Warning System for Cuddalore and Nagapattinam districts was inaugurated by Mr. Udhayakumar at the State Emergency Operations Centre here.

The primary objective of the system — implemented under the Coastal Disaster Risk Reduction Project — is to save people’s lives in coastal and disaster-prone habitations, by providing early warning using a Disaster Warning Announcement System (DWAS), giving enough time to communities to evacuate to safe shelters.

“On completion of the project, all three modes of communication — siren tone, pre-loaded voice messages and live voice messages — will be used,” an official release stated.

Alerting fishermen

Besides the TNSDMA, the Navy and the Coast Guard too were on vigil in the coastal areas, alerting fishermen at sea of the incoming storm.

“Lessons from Cyclone Ockhi and success in preventing loss of lives during recent cyclones — Luban and Titli — were put into practice by the Indian Coast Guard,” stated an official release.

A total of eight Coast Guard ships and two aircrafts were pressed into action since November 9 for issuance of advisories and warnings in local languages to fishermen at sea for their safe return.